NEW ORLEANS, La. - The University of Houston women's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale to Tulane by a score of 71-43 on Thursday night inside Fogelman Arena.

Senior guard Roxana Button paced the Cougars with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes of action. Button reached double figures for the 25th time this season and claimed the Conference USA scoring title with 17.8 points per game this season.

Freshman guard Danielle Parks continued her hot streak of late, posting 13 points and a career-high seven rebounds. Parks was 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc in 34 minutes.

Houston got off on the wrong foot to begin the contest, hitting only one shot in the first 10 attempts to fall behind by an 18-6 margin.

The Cougars cut the Tulane advantage to single digits with just under nine minutes remaining in the opening half off a Parks 3-pointer and Button knocked down a trifecta at the 6:18 mark to bring the contest within nine points once again before Houston went scoreless for the final 4:58 en route to a 31-16 halftime deficit.

Tulane (20-9, 9-7) scored the first six points of the second half to push its advantage over 20 points and Houston would go another four minutes before Button converted a runner to snap the scoring skid.

Houston will play as the No. 12 seed in the C-USA Women's Basketball Championship and will meet fifth-seeded Rice in the opening round on Wednesday at Elma Roane Fieldhouse in Memphis. Bracket and times will be announced on Saturday.